Valve mechanism



VALVE MECHANI SM Original Filed Jan. 3, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY 2 Z A TTOR NE Y.

Feb. 8, 1949. w SCOTT, JR 2,460,908

VALVE MECHAN I SM Original Filed Jan. 3, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2. a

F l 3,3, 7%;, 7m ZA BY j A TTORNEY.

bers to prevent air leakage thereat. 55 interconnects the space 355formed by the dome Patented Feb. 8, 1949 A 2,460,908

VALVE MECHANISM William M. Scott, Jr., Bryn Mawr, Pa., assignor to I. T.E. Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a company of PennsylvaniaApplication March 4, 1943, Serial No. 477,911, now Patent No. 2,426,243,dated. August 26, 1947, which is a division of application Serial No.373,051, January 3, 1941, now Patent No. 2,405,454, dated August 6,1946. Divided and this application November 24, 1943, Serial No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 137144) My invention relates in general to the field Thecylindrical member 301 is cored to produce of circuit interrupters andmore specifically annular air chambers M2 and 3l3 which are sepconcernsa novel and improved form circuit arated by means of an integrally castpartition breaker and a control means therefor. This, 3". Supported up nthe p r i ion i another case is a division of my application Serial No.hollow cylindrical member 3I5 which is bored out 477,911, filed March 4,1943, which is a division to afford a passage 3I5 between the twoannular of the parent application Serial No. 373,051, filed chambers 3l2and 3| 3. January 3, 1941, now Patent Number 2,405,454, Operable withinthe cylinder 3l6 is a spoolgranted August 6, 1946, and entitled Circuitshaped member 3H which essentially comprises interrupter and controltherefor. The present a central portion of narrow diameter and twoinvention embodies a novel high speed valve pistons 32l and 322 whichare operable along the mechanism for controlling the application ofinner surface thereof.

p essur t the p eu ati ally perat d circuit The end 323 of the innercylindrical member breakers such as described in the above referred isof smaller diameter than the opposite end to parent application. thereofin order to provide an abutment 324 for Accordingly an object of thisinvention is to a compression spring 325 which constantly exerts p e ave high p d Valve ec anism in a force on piston 32l towards the left asviewed which a pair of diaphragms cooperate with a in Figure 1 andFigure 2.

Va ve m e aphr ms eing operated Adjacent the pistons, as indicated moreparby pressure from a source of compressed fluid, a ticularly i F re 3,are star-shaped el ments spring member, and aspira in m 33l and 332 asindicated in Figure 3, which main- There are other objects of theinvention which tain alignment when the pistons are displaced will e mpa t f m t d tail d d s ipbeyond the ends of the passage; whilepermitting tion of the drawings, in which: air to flow therethrough.

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the pneu- The open ends of themain cylindrical member matic operating means in the positioncorrespond- 301 are sealed by a pair of flexible diaphragm ing to thecircuit breaker open circuit position. valves 33! and 336 firmly securedthereto by a Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pneucorrespondingpair of dome shaped circular memmatic operating means corresponding tothe cirbers 333 and 334, fastened to the main structure cuit breakerclosed position. by any suitable means as for example screws 335.

Figure 3 is an end cross-sectional view of the The diaphragm 336 is freeof the piston 32I pneumatic operating means taken along the line whereasthe diaphragm 331 is attached by means I 4-I4 of Figure 2. As describedin the above of screws 3 and metal plate 342 to the piston referred toparent application, pneumatically 322. In addition, piston 322 alsocarries a cylinoperated circuit breakers are operated by com- 35 dricalmember 343 which is faced with a layer pressed air. This air isdelivered to the circuit of valve seat material 344. breakers over pipe22. This cylindrical member 343 is preferably fixed The control valvewhich is most clearly illusto a rod 345 which is slidable within acorretrated in Figures 1, 2 and'3 is operated by a pair spondingperforation 346 within the piston 322 of oppositely disposed solenoids;that is, trip sole- 40 and is constantly biased from the diaphragm 331noid 302 and closing solenoid 303. by means of leaf spring 341 whichaccordingly Compressed air from the storage means enters serves as ashock absorber during closures of the control valve through pipe 304 andflows to valve 344, as will be described. and from the operatingcylinder through the As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the circuitmanifold 32. These pipes 304 and 22 are secured breaker closing manifold22 enters into the cyli to the-valve by means of a block 306 suitablyder 3l6 which is supported by partition 3l4. Air perforated which,.inturn, is supported upon the is exhausted from the control valve throughanmain circuit breaker frame. nular passage 3i3 and the exhaust pipe 335con- The control valve comprises a cylindrical body nected thereto.portion 301 which is secured to the block 306 by The air in annularpassage M2 is at the presa plurality of bolts 29! which pass throughcorsure of the supply system, and thus the left face responding lugs 295on either side of the block of diaphragm 331 is acted upon by acorrespond- 306 and the cylindrical body 301 respectively. ing force. Agasket 3 is interposed between these mem- However, as illustrated, asmall passage 352 cheeses 3 i 2 acts upon an annular area whereas highpressure air within the space 333 acts upon a full circular area ofequal outer diameter, the dia-- phragm valve 331 is displaced to theleft (the maximum displacement being indicated in Figure 1). The spring325, as may also be seen, acting upon the spool shaped member 3|1, addsto the force which draws diaphragm 331 in this direction.

When the valve diaphragms are in the position indicated, the circuitbreaker operating cylinders (not shown) are vented through insulatingpipe 36! and through pipe 22 which leads to the cylindrical passage M6.The air is then free to flow from this passage through the star-shapedelement 332 into the annular passage 3l3 and thus to the atmospherethrough the exhaust pipe 35L Pressures on the opposite faces ofdiaphragm 336 are equalized through small passage 354 whichinterconnects the manifold 22 and the dome shaped space 355.

Fine strainers are preferably introduced into the auxiliary equalizingpassages 352 and 354 to preclude the entry into the dome of dust orother foreign particles which would cause faulty seating of the valves.

The dome-shaped elements 333 and 334 are centrally perforated at 36I and362 respectively to form a pair of auxiliary valves which may be sealedby solenoid plungers 365 and 366 surfaced with layers of valve seatmaterial 363 and 364 respectively. These plungers are spring pressedtoward their respective valves by compression springs 361 and 31! whichare retained within axial recesses in the plunger and in the solenoidstops 369 and 316. The force exerted by the springs must be sufficientto ensure effective valve closures when full supply pressure existswithin the dome shaped spaces. Manual operation of the plungers isprovided for by plunger rods 312 and 313 tapped into their correspondingplungers and which pass through appropriate centralizing bushings in thesolenoid steps.

The coil solenoids 362 and 363 are preferably energized from a controlcircuit hereinafter described and are supported upon the main valvestructure by means of the posts 36!.

Control valve operation As previously mentioned, when the valve membarsare as illustrated in Figure 1, the circuit breaker contacts are openand the manifold 22 is vented through exhaust pipe: 35! to theatmosphere.

If the closing solenoid 363 is energized or if the plunger rod 313 isactuated so that the plunger 366 is drawn in against the action ofcompression spring 31! and bears against its corresponding stop 316,then the passage 362 will vent the dome shaped space 334 to theatmosphere.

Inasmuch as the equalizing air flow through relatively small passage 352is less than the air flow to the atmosphere through the larger passage362, the high pressure air within chamber 3l2 will act to displacediaphragm 331 toward the right when viewed as in Figure l.

The displacement of diaphragm 331 will accordingly cause thedisplacement of the attached spool-shaped member 3" and thus piston 322will move beyond the open end 323 of cylindrical member 3" and permitthe high pressure air to enter the circuit breaker manifold through thestar-shaped member 33i as is more particularly illustrated in Figure 2.

Piston 32| will, by virtue of the displacement of the entire member 311,enter the cylinder M5 and block the flow of air from the manifold to theatmosphere through pipe 36L The increase in pressure within manifold 22will cause a corresponding increase in pressure in the space 355 due tothe equalizing passage 354. Since the right hand face of this diaphragmis obviously at atmospheric pressure, this increase in pressure will actto force and maintain flexible diaphragm 336 against its seat 362 andthus efiectively seal the passage 3l6.

Thus actuation of plunger 366, as hereinabove mentioned, will cause thevarious operating members to assume the positions illustrated in Figure2, wherein as indicated by the air flow arrowheads, compressed air fromthe supply passes through the star-shaped member 331 and enters thecircuit breaker manifold 22 and thus causes contact engagement.

The cylindrical member 343 and its associated valve seat 344 will actsubsequent to displacement to seal passage 362 against theescape of highpressure air. Subsequent to circuit breaker closure, there will be notendency for the spool shaped member to return to the position indi-'cated in Figure 1, since the combined forces of the high pressure airacting upon the left surfaces of the diaphragms is substantially greaterthan the combined forces of the compression spring 325 and the airacting on the right surface of diaphragm 331.

The closing solenoid plunger 366 may be permitted to return to theposition indicated in Figure 1 to minimize air leakage through passage362.

The diaphragm 331 as illustrated in Figure 2 is maintained in a positionclear of its seat and thus permits air flow through star-shaped member33! to compensate for any leakage within the various elements, as forinstance, the circuit breaker closing cylinders.

Energization of the trip solenoid 362, or manual actuation of rod 312 tocause the displacement of plunger 365 to the left as viewed in Figures 1and 2, will accordingly permit air passage 36l to vent the high pressureair contained within the dome 355 to the atmosphere.

The venting action will occur at a more rapid rate than the flow ofequalizing air from the high pressure manifold through passage 354' andthus the diaphragm 336 will tend to move towards its neutral position.

Therefore, under the influence of spring 325 a and the high pressureair, the spool shaped memher 311 will correspondingly be displaced andthus will pull the diaphragm 331 against its seat to preclude thefurther flow of air to the manifold.

This motion of the diaphragm is accelerated by the drop in pressure inthe central cylinder 3l6 which occurs as soon as the air thereinexhausts to the atmosphere and the leading edge of piston 322 enters itscylinder.

valve members will again asindicated in Figure 1, vent the manifold, andopen the circuit breaker contacts.

Following circuit interruption, the plunger 365 may be allowed to closepassage 36l as is required for a succeeding circuit closure.

Since various modifications of the hereinabove described control systemwill be evident to those skilled in the art, I prefer to be bound, not

sume the position by these specific disclosures, but by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a valve system having a first line containing a source of highpressure fluid; a second line; a pair of flexible diaphragms; valvemechanism individual to and controlled by each of said diaphragms; thevalve of saidfirst diaphragm controlling the fiow of fluid from saidfirst line to said second line; means for applying pressure from saidhigh pressure fluid source to both faces of said first diaphragm; saidfirst diaphragm being operable to open and close said valve under theaction of said fluid pressure; spring means operating on said firstvalve urging it into position for disconnecting said first linefrom saidsecond line; and means for venting one side of said first diaphragmwhereby said diaphragm is operated by the pressure of said fiuid in saidfirst line on the face of said diaphragm acting against said springmeans to connect said first and second line; a passage means for ventingsaid second line to the atmosphere and means for operating said seconddiaphragm under the action of pressure in said second line into positionclosing said venting passage of said second line to the atmosphere,

2. In a valve structure, a first line; a second line; a flexiblediaphragm operated valve having a connecting position for connectingsaid first and second lines and a disconnecting position fordisconnecting said first line from said second line, both faces of saiddiaphragm being under equal pressure in both its connecting anddisconnecting positions; spring means normally urging and holding saiddiaphragm valve to its disconnecting position; means for venting oneside of said diaphragm valve to cause a drop of pressure on said oneside, said diaphragm valve being thereupon operable by the pressure onits other side for operation to the position for connecting said firstand second lines; and means controlled by pressure in said second linefor maintaining said diaphragm in valve connecting position against theaction of said spring means; said means comprising a second flexiblediaphragm controlled by pressure in said second line.

3. In a valve structure, a first line; a second line; a flexiblediaphragm operated valve-having a connecting position for connectingsaid first and second lines and a disconnecting position fordisconnecting said first line from said second line, both faces of saiddiaphragm being under equal pressure in both its connecting and disconnecting positions; spring means normally urging and holding saiddiaphragm valve to its disconnecting position; means for venting oneside of said diaphragm valve to cause a drop of pressure on said oneside, said diaphragm valve being thereupon operable by the pressure onits other side for operation to the position for connecting said firstand second lines; means controlled by pressure in said second line formaintaining said diaphragmin valve connecting position against theaction of said spring means; said means comprising a second flexiblediaphragm normally disconnected from and brought into operatingengagement with said first diaphragm under contrast of the pressure insaid second line; means for applying equalized pressure on both faces ofsaid second diaphragm; and means for venting one face of said seconddiaphragm to permit the pressure in the other face of said seconddiaphragm to operate said second diaphragm to disconnect from said firstdiaphragm whereby said spring means operates said first diaphragm andits valve to disconnected position.

WILLIAM M. SCOTT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references file of this patent:

are of record in the

